Wednesday, February 13, 2008

TOMORROW…Your phone rings in an elevator. It's the wedding march. Someone asks, "Why do you have the wedding march on your phone?" You answer, "To remind me and everyone around me that LGBT people still don't have the freedom to marry."

But wait, do you have the ringtone on your phone?

To increase our visibility tomorrow—Valentine's Day—and every day throughout the year, we’re offering a free wedding march ringtone to Let California Ring members and calling on you to use it as a conversation-starter every time your phone rings. Click here to get yours now.

Yes, tomorrow is the big moment—Valentine’s Day! Are you ready for it? You’ve got your sign, you’ve signed our letter to the governor, and you’re planning to attend one of the many freedom to marry events across California. We’re so happy to count you as a face for the freedom to marry.

Once you’ve downloaded your ring tone, use it as a tool to engage someone every time your phone rings. Use it to keep the conversation going with friends, family members, co-workers or people you meet on the bus, street, store or the elevator. Use it tomorrow, the day after and every day—until we all have the freedom to marry the person we love.

Thanks for all that you’ve done to make this campaign a success. We’ve come such a long way, and thanks to your dedication, we can now count thousands of Californians as new supporters for the freedom to marry. Change is just around the corner, my friends. Can you feel it?

It starts with us today. And it continues with us tomorrow. I hope you’ll attend one of the many freedom to marry events this week. And don’t forget to bring your phone!

Sincerely,

Geoff Kors
Let California Ring

Don’t Miss...

The Year of Paper

Last night, the documentary The Year of Paper had its Los Angeles Premier at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center’s Reinberg Theater and doubled as a fundraiser for Let California Ring. Filmmaker Kelley Rouse talks about why putting a human face on marriage is so important.

Our documentary, The Year of Paper, advocates marriage equality as we follow three couples--gay, heterosexual and lesbian--through their newlywed year.

Along with putting human faces on a contentious issue, the film educates about the practical side of all those legal rights and obligations that come with a marriage license.

Ultimately, The Year of Paper and the Let California Ring campaign share the core belief that love is love. If you can connect to folks on that core level and open their eyes to those basic truths, then you have a chance to get past any bigotry or fear..

We're proud to be part of the coalition and to make our Los Angeles premiere a fundraiser for this important campaign.

--Kelly Rouse & Nikki Parker, Co-directors, The Year of Paper

If you missed the film last night, check it out in San Francisco tomorrow night as part of Freedom to Marry Week

Thursday, February 14
7:30 p.m.

San Francisco LGBT Community Center
1800 Market St.
San Francisco

Presented by Frameline, Let California Ring and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

$10 suggested donation. All proceeds benefit the Let California Ring (www.LetCaliforniaRing.org) campaign, groundbreaking effort to open hearts and minds and build public support for marriage in California.

A reception will follow the screening.

From the field...

February 5 Day of Action

February 5 may seem like an eon ago, but photos and stories are just coming in from last week’s Let California Ring Day of Action.

Volunteers in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Sacramento stood outside 15 locations from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and talked to people about the freedom to marry. The thought of talking with strangers can be intimidating, but we know talking about the issue is what’s going to make the difference in this state.

Many of the over 100 volunteers were first-timers and pretty nervous. Once they started having conversations though, people realized the power of talking. They realized how good it feels to have conversations with people about marriage. They realized the difference just one person can make and the huge impact 100 people can make.

Many people we talked with shared that they themselves are gay or have a gay friend or family member. Time and time again the volunteers were thanked for coming out and talking about such an important issue. We found some people who are against us too, but that didn’t stop us. Rather it motivated us to talk to more and more people. By the end of the day, we reached out to 2,596 people.

Tuesday was a super day, but it was only one day of the many days ahead. We have to keep talking every day about the freedom to marry.

--Hannah, Let California Ring Field Organizer